Chapter 218: Lyssandra's Summon!

Soren made his way back to the dormitories, his thoughts still circling around the Sunken Sanctuary, when a familiar voice cut through his mind.

“Soren. Come to the infirmary. Now.”

Lyssandra’s voice, calm as always, yet carrying that particular edge that made ignoring her impossible.

He stopped mid-step, brows furrowing.

‘What does she want this time?’

The last time she called him in like this, he ended up strapped to a table getting prodded with needles for “research purposes.”

The woman was brilliant, terrifyingly so, but her definition of medical care leaned closer to mad science than anything resembling normal treatment.

Still, ignoring her summons rarely ended well. He sighed and changed direction, heading toward the infirmary instead of his room.

The building looked the same as always when he arrived, quiet, sterile, lit by pale lanterns lining the corridor.

The same place where he once woke up after nearly getting himself killed during testing. He paused outside the door for a moment, a strange unease creeping up his spine.

‘Why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to be a normal summon?’

He pushed the door open anyway.

The moment he stepped inside, the world around him shifted violently. Light bent and twisted, the floor beneath his feet dissolving into nothing, and before he could even process what was happening, he found himself standing somewhere entirely different.

Cold air. Faint humming. The smell of something metallic and sterile.

Soren blinked, steadying himself as his eyes adjusted to the dim blue lighting surrounding him.

He was no longer in the infirmary.

Instead, he stood in the middle of a massive underground chamber, walls lined with reinforced glass tanks stretching far into the distance, each one glowing faintly from within.

Shapes moved inside some of them, twisted forms that looked nothing like any creature he recognized. Tubes and wires snaked across the ceiling, connecting to humming machines that pulsed with rhythmic light.

This was not a normal lab. Not even close.

“Took you long enough.”

Lyssandra’s voice echoed from somewhere ahead.

He turned to find her standing near a console embedded into the wall, dressed in her usual lab coat, sleeves rolled up despite the chill in the air.

Her white hair was tied back loosely, a few strands falling messily over her face, and there was a faint smear of something dark across her cheek that he chose not to ask about.

“What… is this place?”

Soren asked carefully, glancing around at the glowing tanks and the strange silhouettes within them.

“My personal research facility. Hidden well beneath the Academy grounds, where nosy administrators can’t interfere with my work.”

She said it so casually, as if having an entire secret underground lab filled with contained monsters was the most normal thing in the world.

“You teleported me here. Without warning.”

“Would you have come willingly if I told you beforehand?”

“…Fair point.”

He admitted, though the unease in his chest only grew the longer he stood there.

One of the tanks behind her shifted slightly, something large pressing against the glass before sinking back into the murky liquid inside. Soren’s eyes lingered on it a moment too long.

“Don’t worry about those. They’re stable enough for now.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.”

Lyssandra smirked, motioning for him to follow as she walked further into the chamber, passing rows of containment units filled with strange specimens, some still, some twitching faintly behind reinforced barriers.

“So, why bring me here exactly?”

“Because you’re an interesting case, Soren. More interesting than most students who pass through that infirmary.”

She stopped in front of a large console, fingers tapping against the surface as holographic readouts flickered to life, displaying data Soren couldn’t begin to understand.

“Remember our meeting when you came searching for Lyra? At that time, I noticed that your soul power was higher than normal.”

His pulse quickened slightly.

“You noticed that?”

Well, he wasn’t that surprised by this, but was concerned about how much she noticed instead.

After all, he used free stats to increase his soul power to the limit. In fact, he was still thinking of strengthening his body for future increments after getting a warning.

“Of course I noticed.”

She turned to face him directly now, eyes sharp despite the playful tone in her voice.

“I’ve been running calculations since then. Something about your soul growth seems a bit off.”

She looked at Soren with eager eyes and asked softly,

“It seems your soul has reached the limit your body could withstand. Was your soul powerful from the beginning?”

In the first place, a mere soul orb wasn’t enough to increase its power by this much. To be honest, with such a powerful soul, she was confused as to why he awakened as an archer instead.

Although Awakening was random, it still adhered to the fundamental power of a human. Soren was better off being a necromancer, summoner, or even a mage specialized in soul power.

‘Sigh… no wonder she asked me to help her with something before. Is this what she is after?’

Soren sighed internally while slightly nodding his head at the professor. Since she had already noticed it, there was no point in lying.

Besides, he was fortunate that she didn’t know about his initial soul power; otherwise, he wouldn’t have a decent answer for why he was like this.

“Good… hehe, no need to be so guarded. I won’t eat you, will I?”

Lyssandra seemed to have noticed his unease and laughed beautifully, shaking her huge breasts up and down, garnering attention from Soren.

Now that he thought about it, didn’t he also have a quest related to her?

‘Maybe, I will have a chance to complete it if I stay near her.’

“Anyway, since you piqued my interest with your unique body and soul, I want to do some research. It is related to Class Awakening and such. So… will you help me? Don’t worry, I promise, you will get a good return in this expe… uhum, I mean research.”

Professor Lyssandra asked with a slight smile, her eyes filled with expectation and eagerness.

To be honest, if not for Soren being so close to Lyra and the Principal, she would have forced him with her status already.

She was very enthusiastic about her research after all.

But for now, she hoped that Soren would agree on his own, as it was beneficial for him too. For instance, she could help him hide that soul power of his from other eyes, saving him from future trouble.

If that skeleton guy called Knight saw Soren like this, they might kidnap him for experiments instead.

“Okay… let’s do that then.”

Fortunately, Soren readily agreed to her, making her smile. Just… she couldn’t help but notice that his gaze was getting a bit too bold.

Still, she ignored that and spoke,

“Good decision. Then, first, let’s do a simple test to measure your soul power. After that, I will give you an artifact to hide your soul power from others.”

Although Lyssandra didn’t tell Soren, what she was actually researching was double awakening of class.

She, as a healer, was heavily nerfed in combat after all. For her to get interested in double awakening was a given.

Soren having such a unique disposition just made him a perfect sample for her, that’s all.